Part 2: Father's Day

It's hard for me not to write something today, on Father's Day, in honour of Mike.   Mike would be so very proud of Emily and Lucas.   Lucas just learned to ride a bike last week-- his shear joy and pride in this new found skill has kept us all smiling through a tough week.  Emily recently named our car Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Really.

Since the moment Lucas was born, Mike tried very hard to balance work life and home life.  Mike's work duties kept him away from home more often than any of us would have liked.   That was tough on Mike-- that pull between his work and home life.  He didn't have a lot of control over his work hours so we were often doing as much as we could as a family, when we could.

We made the most of his 'home call'....    I remember one particular day at a corn maze in the Fall.   We were only about a 15 minute drive from the hospital and many doctors live at least that far away from KGH, we thought, re-assuring ourselves.  So there we were, Mike, Lucas and I (no Emily yet) mucking through a very muddy corn maze.  We were having a great time, though I couldn't understand why Mike was so task oriented, always wanting to confirm his sense of direction at all times.   Once we made it out (phew...), he reminded me he needed to know a quick way out in case he got called into the hospital!

Other 'home call' days were also taken 'on location' as a family-- for example, during the Sheep Dog Trials at Grass Creek, at the market downtown, or in the car coming home from a must-needed visit to the 'box stores' for home reno supplies.  I remember many phone calls, Mike walking away from the crowd-- or him sitting in the car on his own--  we'd look at him, hoping for a 'thumbs up' (meaning he didn't have to go in to work).

Life.  Family.  Work.

I guess we all need to be mindful about how we spend our time--- how we share this finite, daily resource with those we love.

Mike was drawn to the intellectual challenges at the hospital- there's no doubt about that. But I know with utmost certainty that being a Dad to Lucas and Emily meant everything to him.